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American Liberty. 



AN ORATION 

BY 

HOMER B, SPRAGUE, 

AT 

NEW HAVEN, CONN., 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4th, 1900, 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



Tb - ppjech of Homer B. Spiague, or 
New York, orator of the day of the 
Fourth of July celebration in Center 
e^h'irch yesterday contained the follow- 
ing: 

Anions the great festivals of the 
worl !. the American Fourth of July 
holds a unique and conspicuous place. 
The <iays when all the millions of de- 
vout Hebiews annually turned their 
eyes and hearts, and hundreds of thou- 
sands of them their steps towards 
Jerusalem; the stated celebrations of 
national games, when multitudes of 
patriotic Greeks from every land came 
pouring in endless streams to the 
Olympian, Isthmian. Pythian, and Ne- 
mean fields, till the living- floods fill- 
ed the stadia, and billows of applause 
extolled to the skies the victorious 
athlete or the nobler Intellectual glad- 
iator; the triumphal pageants of im- 
perial Rome when the laureled con- 
queror, with consuls and judges and 
senate, with vlctoiious legions, with 
c.Tptive princes and armies In chains, 
and th" spoils of vanquished nations. 
moved in magniflont procession amid 
millions of spectators. 
■■X^'ho S.1W Rome's brightest day— 
'iVho saw thf long victorious pomp 
Wind down the Sacred Way 
And through the bellowing Foru.n 
And round the the Suppliants' Grove 
''p to th' c-verlasJing gates 
Of Capitolian Jove"— 
the most memorable anniversaries of 
modern Europe and Asia — all are in- 
ferior to our national birthday in va- 
riety and fulness of feeling. In Im- 
pressive simplicity and far-reaching ; 
influence, and in the grandeur of the i 
events they commemorate. 

He were but a superficial observer 
who should fail to discern beneath all 
the bubble and spa'kle and foam, and 
In spite of the million-fold plash and 
roa;-, a steady under-current, silent 
and strong, originating in the profound- 
est convictions and pou'-ed from tne 
deepest founts of feeling: confined to 
no narrow channel or favored zone, but 
rising at earliest dawn on every league 
of our Atlantic shore and keeping pace 
with the incoming flood of eastern 
light, swe«>pi:ig onward and westward. 
a tidal wave of joy, till the broad 
continent Is fnye'sed. and the chorus 
of ringine bells and booming cannon 
and the diapason of mimic war mingle 
with the m.urmurs of the Pacific seas 

And what is the significance of all 
this? Not holiday pleasurei. Fond as 
Young America and children of a lar- 
e^v erowth justly are of the spectacle 
nf life and pomp and pyrotechnic 






■splendor, and the milllonfold rattle and 
roar of explosive toys and martial 
music and stirring chimes and cannon 

°,'i!s. all bespeaking universal gladness 
.md irresistible force, the sentiment 
'vhich creates this aniversary is far 
deeper. 

Nor is it chiefly pride of ancestry or 
reverence for the Fathers. Indeed, 
notwithstanding our patriotic socie- 
ties, "Sons and Daughters," of the 
great and good, we have far too little 
of this. We undervalue the men who 
carried America In their heart and 
brain in "the times that tried men's 
souls." Because he has seen steam 
navigation and trolley cars and incan- 
r'escent lights and telegraphs and 
phonographs, the youth of ten or tweli/e 
thinks himself wiser than Benjamin 
Franklin. The third-ra'te politician, 
who has bought a seat in Congress 
smiles patronizingly on George Wash- 
ington who "could not tell a lie," and 
who knew so little of the "strenuous 
life" and America as a "world power." 

Yet .glorious and true were these, and 
toweling above most if not all of the 
men of today, as the monument at 
the national capital lifts its head abote 
the trade and tramp of business, the 
tumult and the shoutin.g of the str-ets, 
the wrangling and the babble of Con- 
g-ess. Thomas Jefferson, James Ma'^'i- 
son, Alexander Hamilton. John Adams, 
— -ah. there were gi.ints in those d?iys: 
And if onr American Fourth of July 
served no other pu-pose than to keep 
their memories alive and waft their 
rames and dpeds on the wings of elo- 
nuence and song to distant lands an3 
ages, the service this day would ren- 
der to our country and to humanity 
would still be of inestimable worth. But 
'everence for ano>:stors Is not the chief 
inp--enient in our cup of joy and 
thfinks.glving today. 

Nor is it mainly love of countiy. We 
cannot have too much of the genuine; 
we cannot have too littlo of the sham. 
We devoutly thank God this day for 
Nf>w England; once supposed to be 
the brain of the nation; with 
her universal diffusion of knowl- 
edge and morality; her great edu- 
cational institutions that still lisht the 
land; her unsurpassed Ingenuity, in- 
ventiveness, enterprise, energy, mind 
mixed w-Ith muscle, wringing -n-ealth 
from flinty rock and barren sand and 
ocean waste — for New England, with 
all her precious history; — for the Mid- 
dle States, so l-ong the heart of the 
republic, with their industrial activl- 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



ties and amazing wealth, cause an 1 
effert rombinr""! In ^^^'^'--'nnreasln^ vol- 
ume; their vnst. ever-enlarging, ever 
multiplying cities — New York. Phllaa- 
phia, and, the rest — mental and moral, 
as we would tain bellev.3, keeping pace 
with materlfi! progress: — for the New 
South, purlfiod bj sihtow and suffer- 
ing, and looking with reasonable con- 
fidence to the glory that shall yet be 
hers, to the intelligence that shall 
flourish like her corn and cane and 
fragrant leaf, to the peace and purity 
that shall whiten her summer robes 
like the hail of rice and the snow of 
cotton, to the atmosphere that shall 
yet be as redolent of justice as of the 
magnolia and orange groves: and to 
;he hum of machinery blending with 
the strains of highest art In sweeter 
music than the old plantation songs: — 
for the great West, with its marvelous 
vigor, its unparalleled growth in all 
that is great and good. Its eftlorescence 
In mighty and be.iutlful cities. Its seas 
of golden grain, its cattle on a thou- 
sand hills and plilns: — for the center 
of Noith Amerlc-i, ^^^e Northwest — the 
great heart of the Continent be.nting 
so strongly yet so soundly, where, with- 
in the last twenty-five years, the voices 
of prayer and praise, the busy mur- 
mur of school-rooms the ploughboy's 
whistle and the milkmaid's song have 
been substituted for the howls of sav- 
age beasts and more savage men: — f'lr 
these portions of the best, fairest land 
i-rder the sun. 

Yes, and for the newborn far West, 
beyond the mountains; where the 
scripture Is fulfille 1. a nation Is born In 
n day; where the Occident shall by and 
by rival or outshine the Orient: and 
where the flakes of precious dust are 
upturned in so many a furrow, gleam 
through the ripples of so many a 
stream, and sparkle on so many a 
mountain peak, that Young America 
half believes the gorgeous yellnw of 
the sunset sky to be but the reflected 
tints of that Hnd of gold! 

All these, every section, we love. Bit 
they are only parts of one majestic 
whole— 

"Distinct like the billows. t>ut one like 
th. <-':t:' 

That one. that whole, is the TTnion — 
the central sun of these forty-five plan- 
ets, embracing all. giving unity, life, 
health, safety, joy. to all. Our coun- 
try, our whole country, from ocean to 
ocean, from the Lakes to the Gulf — the 
source -^f Innumerable blessings in the 
past, the source of immeasurable bless- 
ings yet to come. If true to the prin- 



ciples and faithful to the preeept.s of 
those heroic souls who laid its fri:.- 
datlons and who sanctified it by tKelr 
toils, their tears, and their blood. 

We may well make the language of 
the Swedish Songstress our own — 
"1 greet \\ith a full heari ihe land of Ihe 

WfcSt. 

Whose banner of stars o'er the earth :s 

l.tmU- .: 
Whose c-iiiplre o'ershadows Atlantic's 

wide ttitiitit. 
And opp s to the sunset Its galcway of 

g.ikl.- 
Thf lanil of the mountains, the land of the 

lake. 
And rivers that roll in magnificent tide. 
Where the souls of the mighty from slum- 
ber awake 
T.i hallow »he soil for whose trL-edom 
they died!" 
' Foi whi se freedom the;- di dl ' Thvi' 
lived, labored, fought, died lo, freeJo^n 
"Fur youi- freedom I call you happv,'' 
said the younger Cyrus to the ten th.'u 
sand Greeks; "for well you know that 
1 would choose freedom in pr^fe ence to 
all I possess, and manifold more be- 
sides." Libejty has been the central 
principle — the soul of the American 
republic, more beautiful than the bloom 
and the gayety of these joyous hours, 
more precious than t-e memo y of our 
sainted faihers who laid il.ose foundn- 
tions: more inspiring thai, the contem- 
plation of this vast superstructure it- 
self, now lifting its mighty dome over 
the centre of the continent, its wings 
resting on the lakes and the gulf, its 
pillared fronts facing two oceans — is 
that which Imparts this beauty, this 
preciousness. this inspiration; that 
which pervades all; that which created 
and which still hallows this anniver- 
sary. J mean American Liberty. 

For nations like individuals have 
dominant traits or even ruling pissions. 
China has always stood for conserva- 
tism; Assyria for brute force: Phoeni- 
cia for commerce: Israel for purity; 
Eg pt. life: Persia. light; Athens, art: 
Sparta, prowess; Rome, dominion: 
France. glo:y: Spain, religion: England, 
wealth; America, liberty. 

A centui y and a quarter after Col^im- 
bus, the Pilgrim F.tthe's came, bring- 
ing rell!;ious liberty. They never per- 
secuted for heresy. 
' Aye call It holy ground— 
The spot whore first they trod— — 
Th»y left onstaim^d what ttere they found 
Freedom to worship God." 

A century and a half rolled away, and 
amid the storm of the American revo- 
lution, political liberty, national inde- 
pendrnce. was born. Another genera- 
tion passed, and the war of 1812 wrest- 
ed from Englanl personal liberty on 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



the high seas. Fifty years later came 
the tremendous conflict that broke the 
chains of three million slaves. T.,e 
closing yeais of this century have seen 
the great republic smite the shackles 
from more than a million Cubans. Thus 
•with the exception of our contest with 
Mexico, aad our present batiling wl'.h 
the Philippine Islands, all our great na- 
tional struggles have been for liberty. 

And what is American Liberty? It is 
commonly said that natural liberty Is 
freedom from all rest-aint, but the laws 
of nature; civil liberty, freedom from 
arbitrary interference with one as a 
member of a community; political lib- 
erty,, in the case of an individual, iree- 
r"om to participate in the making of 
laws, anij in the case r.f a st .te, inde- 
pendence, sovereignty; personal liber- 
ty, freedom from personal restraint; 
.r ligious, liberty, freedom from got'ern- 
mentul inte;fe;ence in matte:s of con- 
science. But these are ab"itract terms. 
Lit us particularize. 

Among (he ingredients that make up 
Ame lean liberty are these: Freedom 
to speak or print, to assemble peace- 
ably, to petition for redre?s of griev- 
anc-:s, to keep ,:nd bear arms, to travel 
rnmolcsted on the public highways; 
the rirht of trial by jury, of habe-is cor- 
pus; cf confronting and examining ac- 
tusers; of choosing find being "hosen to 
offi e; of enjoying life, liberty, proper- 
ty, in any way not harmful to others; 
the right to one's house as his castle— 
a castle inviolable, so that in the elo- 
quent language of Lord Chatham, "The 
poorest man in his cottage may bid de- 
fiance to all the forces of the crown. It 
may be frail; its .-oof may shake; the 
wind may blow through it; the storm 
may enter it; but the king of England 
cannot enter it. All his power dares 
not cross the threshold of that ruined 
tenement!" 

Abraham Lincoln's famous phraseol- 
ogy, "government of the people, by the 
people, and for the people." well sums 
up the result. It is important to under- 
stand the matter. 

The leading theories of the origin of 
Society and of Government are re- 
duc-ble to three. 

First, the Greek theory, propounded 
by that keenest of intellects, Aristotle. 
He describes man as "a political ani- 
"^al." One of the deepest thinkers of 
America, our fellow citizen of Connec- 
ticut, the late Dr. Horace Bushnell, 
ii^ps an e''uivalent expressiin, "We are 
'■Ivll-snciety creatures." Tlr^v start 
./Ith the assumption that mai is bv n.T- 



ture gregarious. As water is the ele- 
ment for flshes, and air for birds, so 
fell 'Wship, association, is for man. Into 
society he is born, in s >ciety he lives, 
by society he is moulded, to" society he 
is irresistibly drawn. It is the natural 
whole of which he is a part. After its 
very eailiest stages it becoiries an or- 
ganism all parts mutuall;- means and 
ends. The military department is its 
light arm; the parliarrent, "talking ap- 
paratus." its tongue; the ruler or rulers. 
One or more, its brain. Though thru 
conception tends to mr'gnify the state 
and to minify the individual, it yet 
tends also to conciliate him as ptrt of a 
mi-^hty machvie. By it society and gov- 
ernment appear in the light of friendly 
accessions to miiister to his needs. It 
dea's chiefly in affirmations — "Thou 
Shalt" It is the 'h"ory of natural or- 
i.?in, ppontanous pvolution. 

Second, the Pooial- compact theory. It 
asEnmes that man is by nature an Ish- 
mrel. Nearly two thousand yefits ""O 
Cicei-o sug-p-ested that the primitive 
condition of men is one of mutual en- 
mity. George Buchanan in 1579 more 
than hinted that -he people consciously 
combine to originate kingly power. 
Three centuries ago Richard Honker, 
in his Rcclesiastical Polity, outlined 
the theory of comp='.?t as the o'igin 
of govcnment. Hugo Grotius in ]6:J0 
assumed an implied if not expressed 
compa't Vet^ "ee'i u'ers and ru'es. John 
Milton, two hundred anrl fifty years ago 
asserted with emphasis, that "the pow- 
er of kings and mafistvat<s is nothing 
else but what is r^erivative. transfe'red 
.and committed to them in trust from 
the people." Thomas Hobbes, in his 
I.eviathiin, in IfiSl, with great expH- 
oitness argued that a state of nature 
is a state of war, a struggle for ex- 
istence, every man against every other 
man; that "a parley was made," a 
compact was entered into," and that 
"government is a result of this agree- 
ment to keep the peace." Algernon 
Sidney, executed in 16S3, stoutly main- 
tained that governments are foun-^d 
on contract. The English Parliament 
six years jlater, voted that James II. 
had bmken the original contract be- 
tween "King and people. In 1690 John 
Locke affirmed that "the consent of 
the people is the only title of lawful 
govei-nment." Jean Jacques Rotisseau. 
styled by Lowell "the father of modern 
Democracy," taught one hundred and 
thirty-eight years ago in The Social 
Contract that the binding force of p-ov- 
ernment is derived from the combined 



AMERICAN LIBERTY 



v,i!ls of inclivirluals. Sir Willi i;n 1 
BI ;ckstone in his celebrated Commen- 
taries (17BFi-1769) declared that every 
man enteiing society gii-es up a por- 
ti'^^ of l.is natural rights In order to 
obtain ".d'-antages th"t more than .om- 
pensate fo - the loss. Other writers 
have urged th .t the rights of srorern- 
ment fi e an a^greg'^.te of the rights 
so surren-^ered. Jefferson and our 
revol- tiona-y fathers incorporated in 
the De-cr.ration of American Indepen- 
dence these wo'ds: "All men endowed 
by their Creator with certain in?.lien- 
rble rights: among these are life, lib- 
erty, and the pursuit of happiness, 
to secure these .'ights governments are 
Instituted among men. deriving their 
.iust powers frijm the consent of the 
gcv^rv.pO." Al'Xander Hamilton in the 
Fe'^eraliPt wrote, "The fabric of Amer- 
ican emp'r- o'lght to rest upon the 
solid basis of (he consent of the people. 
The s*:-e"ms of ni'.tional power ought 
to flow immediately from that purf- 
o'lj-inal fo'mt^in of all legitimate au- 
thority." The Masachusetts Bill rf 
Rights i-eads. "The body politic is a sr^- 
cial compact, in which the who!" cor~- 
munity 'CoveT-ants with each citize -, 
find each ci^'zen with the whole com- 
munity." The Connecticut Bill r.f 
Ri^rhts says substantially the same. 

From the writings of suoh men we 
de'uce as essential features cf the so- 
cial rompact theory, the following: 

The natural state of manl.ind is one 
rf mut.ia! enmity: every m .n entering 
EO^ie*y forms a compact with his fellow 
man, oach surrendering some of his na- 
tural rightT in order to be secure in th'- 
enjoyment of rth^r r'ghts deemed more 
important: the rig"its of government 
are an a^grejrate of the ri'jhts so sur- 
rendered a-d no more. It is a theory of 
ro"ietv oilg'natin?' not in acc=s-ions to 
supply needs but in concessioT'~ 
wrung from necessities: a theory of 
govi-rnme't by consent of the goven- 
ed yet a theory of ins'inctive reprl- 
'llon, unwi'-line aggregation, extorted 
compact, fpri-g'ng out of human self- 
ishness, gove-nment would S9em to be 
a choice of the lesser of two evils: 
"eternal virilance" being "the price of 
liberty." It is a man-made device. It 
divests the maeistra'e of a'l sanctity. 
It magnifies the individual; it mini- 
fies the state. It deals in ne~a'i'ns. 
It continually says "Thou shalt n-rt " 
Such is the social compact theory, on- 
second theory of the origin of society 
and government. 

The third great theory of the origin 



of society and g.^v^rnment is the ,h-0;y 
of fcupe. natural Li,i..e Api..^»nim ni; 
that God "seueth the so-it^r^ i»i laini- 
lits," "the Mjst High i uletii in the 
kingdom of men, t.nd giveth it to 
whomsoever He will;" that is. that eo- 
ciety is instituted and the stale is or- 
ganized by the diiecl Hction of the Al- 
mighty; that the mgistrate is divinely 
commissioned, the Ki.ig is "the Lord's 
Anointed:" the B..si.eLS is "Jove de- 
scended;" Alexander is the son of Jup- 
iter Ammon; that the oraiion of Herod 
who murCered the apostie, and the 
balderdash of the wtak and wicked 
Jam.es II., W"ere the voice of God and 
not of man; that "a divii.ity doth hedge 
a king;" that 

*.\ut ..il tV.. .vaterp !n the rough rurlc pea 
Can Wiish the balm from an ano;nti.d 

king ; 
The brceiih of worldly men cannot depjse 
The deputv tlocted by the Lord." 

(Richard li Ui, ii, 54-57.) 

This then is our third theory; that 
society and g' vernment are a super- 
natuial divine order. 

In each c" these theories there is a 
great sub'.tratutn of truth, and in the 
practical application of each there has 
•be n a vast accumulation of error. 

Few political philosophers would now 
deny the substantial correctness of 
what we have designated as the Greek 
theory — that of the natural growth of 
society, the natural evolution of gov- 
ernment. The order of develop.aient 
seems to have been.C) the farnil", '2)th- 
house, or group of 'kindred families, (S) 
the tribe or c'an of many assioiiteti 
houses, (4) the people organized as 
state or nation, and the govenig per- 
son was succesfively the father, the 
patriarch, the chieftain, the sove'-eigu 

The Greek democracies were pieced- 
ed by petty mcmrchies which societv 
outgrew. In all forms of the boay pol. 
itic. whether patriarchal, tiibal. demo 
cratic, oligarchic, or ".".onarchica', there 
was one central feeling or idea, no. 
fo'mulated perhaps, but ever domirant 
that the state was all important, the in- 
dividual utterly insignificant except as 
he contributed to his country's great- 
ness. The inherent value of the human 
scul never fia'=hed en the ordinary Greek 
intellect. In their freest cities the ma- 
.iority were slaves. Even Plato in his 
ideal republic would have a race of 
bondmen. Human rights were nothing 
when wei.ffhed a'jainst the fancied in- 
terest of the body politic. In Athens 
the wisest, .iustest, most valuable citi- 
zens were ostracised, banished, or pois- 
oned; sometimes without pretence of 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



guilt. I.,:fe was cheap. Tiie &taie wad 
all, the man nolhii.g. At.i ni n. Coii.i- 
thian. Spartan, Theban, lived fo.- tne 
state alone. The end it. \ie\v, tne as- 
grandizenient of the state, .sanctified 
the means. A niOdern diplomatist ha:5 
been defined as an oflicer ' se -t abroad 
to lie for his country;" but the supei- 
iority of ThemiSLtcIes in that dire ti .n 
would have made MacLhiavelli o. Ta.- 
leyrand blush. 

This vague sentiment (that man ex- 
ists for the organized pubic aloi.e.) 
sometimes crystallzed into a shlnins 
principle of action. It became for th,' 
high-minded Gieek the keynote of a 
splendid patriotism. Insignificant, 
feeble ephemeral himself, h^- rejoiced in 
the belief that his country was majes- 
tic, invincible, immortal. As the coral 
tree is b'jt the accumulated rk letons 
of \innunib = red polyps, so the Gieek 
patriot, identifying himself with his 
ci.y, would share with al! his fell w cit- 
izens her beauty, her strength, her er.d- 
!ess !'f', iiei' f;ideless glory. Drifting by 
the dim light of natural religion with- 
out chait or compsss on a sea wl ose 
currents bure him, he knew not whith- 
er; a sea that afforded no ancho:age 
for its bottom was a shifting map.* 
of conjecture; its shores w^re no bHi.er 
than cluud-land; he siw but the ship of 
state siirrounded by rivals iind foe~. He 
made it his life mission to a^gran iz^ 
her. He loved her wuth more than fl'a" 
devotion; in peace he adorned her with 
the most exquisite works of art. and 
."ome of the loftiest productions o° gen- 
ius; and in war. when the storm of 
battle W'as loudest and the W-^ve^ 
dashed highest, he felt it srlo-iou"; <o 
sink in death for her. Thermopylr^e 
str.nds alone in history. One of the twn 
monuments bore <he ii^scrintlon. "Fcir 
thousand Peloro-nsiins here foug'-it 
against three nilli'">n Pe-Fians;" and 
the other, •'St'-anger, tel' the Lacedae- 
monians that we fire lying here in obe- 
dience to their laws." 

Such pat' ififism. however briliant It"! 
display, is esson'iilly narrow. It t''kes 
no account of right and wrong. It p"ts 
one's country above humanity, above 
God. It forgets that 
"Alan Is more than constitutions; better 

rot beneath the sod 
Than be trii» to rhnrch and state, while 
you'r'^ doubly false to God." 

A'most immediately after the consol- 
idation of all the nations of the civiliz- 
ed world into the Roman empire, 
stretching from the Atlantic to the Eu- 
phrates, and from the German Ocean 
to the Cataracts of the Nile, Christian- 



i.y came Hashing upon the h.,man 
mir.d the truth of the imaior.ality of 
the soul. Men saw and felt then, and 
increasingly so from age to age v.iil 
Rome iiseif went down beneath the 
baibariaa hordes, that the state was 
.gor;e--old Assyria, UalDylon, Egypt, Per- 
sia, Macedonia, Greece, Caithage— 
every state w<.s gone— n ly, the heavens 
and the tarth must pass away! 
'The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous 

palaces. 
The sol' mn temples, the great globe it- 
self— 
Yea, all which inherit, shall dissolve, 
Aod. like an insubstantial pageant faded, 
Leave not a rack b^hiinl." — 
but the human soul must live on ex- 
panding foiever "with the power of an 
endless life ' — tlie nu.man soul, in com- 
paiism with wl icli all visible things 
sink into significance! 
•■l<''or thovigh the giant ages heave the hill 
And break the shore 
And txtrmore 
.Make and break and work their will— 
Thou.eh wcrUls on worlds in myriad myri- 
ads roil 
Round Ui. each with different powers 
•And other forms of life than ours — 
What know we greater than the soul?" 

By necessary imp'i ation thus was 
severed from the Greek theory of the 
origin of society and .government the 
fascinating but f .Ise offshoot that man 
exists mainly for the state. Thus was 
grafted upon it, to be ultimately incor- 
porated as the essential fibre of our 
tree of liberty, the vital, the all-im- 
portant t-uth. that the sate exiss for 
man. This is t' e fi st gre t distinctive 
foundnti n princirl^ of .*m=rican liber- 
ty: The S'ate exists for Man, not Man 
for the State. 

Then, too, with the advent of Ohris- 
ti^nity, was first seen the germ of Re- 
ligious Liberty, the entire separation 
of the Roi'itoal from the temporal 
power. Subjects of a "kingdom not of 
this world," the early discipleseschewed 
politics and taught simply obedience. 
But before the fall of Rome the church 
grasped and wielded imperial power 
even for the suppression of heresy. 
Falling with the empire :ir.d forced to 
struggle for existence through several 
centuries, the church at times threw 
siound her as a shield the doctrine of 
the mutual independence of spiritual 
and temporal authority. A second time 
gaining in powder and losing In purity, 
she exercised during a century or two 
of Feudalism co-ordinate civil author- 
ity. In 1073 Archdeacon Hildebrand 
assumed the pontifical robes. Under 
the title of Gregory the Seventh, "Gre- 
gory the Great," he crushed alike free- 
dom of conscience and state sovereign- 



^ 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



ty, and revived under peculiar limita- 
tions the doctrine of "the divine risht 
of Kings." For more t'lan tlT ee ce-'- 
turies thi.s policy ruled the Christian 
church. Martin Luther an 1 his coad- 
.iulois did not hold the dootrine that 
civil law must not invade the dom ii 
of conscience. The Church of Eng- 
land never held it. The Puritans of 
New England never separated church 
and state. Our Pilsrim P^ithers at 
Plymouth nerer persecuted for reli- 
gion, but their .=nns did. In 163( Cecil ■ 
Calvert. Lord Bnltimore. established 
his colony of Romnn Catholi- s in 
Maryland and granted perfect tolera- 
tion. To Roger Williams two years 
later, at Provir^enoe, R. I., belongs the 
distinguished glory of first inco-pornt- 
ing in a politi""! co'istitutinn the prin- 
ciple of perfect freedom of conscience, 
entire separation betxteen church and 
state. Rut no larsre politiral body ever 
adopt 'd it as a part -f its frndamental 
l"w lill in 17<t1 the A"Tov)(.'in people 
introduced as an essential feature of 
the Constitution of the TTnited i=itatPS 
the de'^ree. "Congresf shall mnVe no 
law respectir? an os'ablished religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise there- 
of." 

And this then is the second great 
distinctit'e foundation principle of 
American libertv: The state m\ist not 
invade the re^lm of conscience. 

In the doct'ine that the state ex- 
ists for man. Tnd in the right of en- 
tire religious libe'-ty. the germ of an- 
other fundamental principle shoots up 
into vi=w. thf natur-i! equality of all. 
Politicians, hisrh in office, now tell us 
that men are not created eiual: that 
they are born into S'^cial distinctions, 
the child s"hiect to the parent, the 
women to her husband, the servant to 
his master, the peasant to the lord, 
the poverty-stricken to the miUion- 
aire. They tell us that slaves were the 
most numerous class in every ancient 
city. Wherein, then, we are asked, 
are men created eipial? Mr. Calhoun 
raid it was "a self-evident lie." We 
may answer. In the right of every man 
as an immortal soul to the best possi- 
ble opportunity of rievelopment with- 
out harming any other being. The 
great Teacher foibade his disciples to 
be calf'-d masters. He identified him- 
self with the humblest. The conven- 
tional diffe-pnces between highest and 
lowest vanished. "Inasmuch as ye have 
done it unto one of the least c' these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
Some of the lesser ecclesiastical organ- 
izations acted upon this theory; but 



except the judicial decision in Somer- 
set's case, the idea of essential equali- 
ty seems to have found no legal rec- 
ognition in the old world. Its first au- 
thoritative adoption as a basic p'inciple 
by any considerable political body ap- 
pears to h ve been in the great Dec- 
laration at Philadelphia one humlred 
and twenty-four years ago this day, by 
the 1 epresentatives of the United 
States of America in General Congress 
assembled. 

And this we may lay down as the 
third greit distinctive foundation 
principle of American liberty: The 
equality of all men in their right to 
mental and moral development, tne 
light to equal protection by the gov- 
ernment and equal participation In it; 
in a word. Equality before the Law. 

The representative system appears to 
be almost wholly of modern origin. It 
seems at first view a little singular 
that this simple arrangement, by which 
alone an ext^nsire Democracy is prac- 
ticable, enabling scores of st'ites, hun- 
dreds of communities, millions of in- 
dividuals, to sit together in council, 
never occurred to the statesmen of the 
ancient world. Its earliest aopearance 
in go-'ernment was porhaos in the 
Cortes of Spain, the Parliament of 
England, or the States General of 
France. 
j Tliis legislative representation we 
may designate as the fourth great 
rMstinctive foundation principle in 
American liberty. 

And lo, another remarkable feature 
of which ancient history furnishes no 
clear prototype. The fusion of other- 
wise independent states to constitute 
one sovereign nation! Not a mere al- 
pling every energy, degrading man into 
lianrp like the Amphictyonic Council, 
the Hanseatic league, or the Helvetic 
Confederation; not a mere confederacy 
for a single or tempoiary purpose, as 
when our thirteen colonies leagued to- 
gether to carry on a defensive war 
against the encroachment of England; 
but a true blending to form a perma- 
nent go-vernment that should bear di- 
rectly upon citizens as well as upon 
commonwealths. While the world 
has wondered at this skilful device of 
almost miraculous wisdom to secure a 
strong central goi^ernment yet preserve 
local autonomy, suddenly and safely, 
without noise or convulsion, many a 
time the walls of this temple of liberty 
have silently receded. Its roof has ex- 
panded, until through its wide-arching 
doors thirty-two sister commonwealths 



ha^-e s-ccessively entered and found 
each a s-.irine and a home beside the 
ooi^imon altar! 

This then is the fifth great founda- 
tion principle in our American liber- 
ty: The union of self-g-o-verned state'^ 
ui cne Roverei^-n nation. 

The c-istribution of government pow- 
ers among three co-ordinate depirt- 
ments. legislative, executive, and ju- 
dicial, each independent of the cfie ■ 
two. and confining itself to Its own 
special function, is peculiar to Am-ri- 
oa. We may designate this rs the 
sixth gre?.t foundation principle in O'lr 
American liberty: The division of the 
goc-ernment into three co-ordinate in- 
dependent departments, legislative ex- 
ecutive, and judicial. 

In Plato's famous Book of Laws the 
first sentence is, "Teil me, strangers, 
is God or man supposed to be the au- 
thor of your laws" The answer is 
instantaneous, "God!" Our fathe- s 
ever recognized the substance of gov- 
ernment to be of God, though they 
strenuously asserted the form to be of 
men. Though not eynres.sly menMo^=.d 
the Supreme Lawgiver of the uni- 
verse is recognized in the Constitution 
of the United States: and no senator 
or representatire. no lesrislatii-e, exe- 
cutive, or judicial officer, eitlier of 
the United States or of any separate 
state, can enter upon any of his offi- 
cial duties without having first been 
sworn solemnly, appe-ling to Al- 
mighty God to witness his sincerity and 
to aid in his action. By these oaths 
required by the Constitution: by ex- 
press recognition of the Dietv in the 
Declaration of American Independence 
fin its beginning, as the "Creator" of 
all men, and in its end. as the "Su- 
preme Judge of the world," on whose 
protecting "Provide-ice" the signers ex- 
press their 'firm reliance"); by prayer 
at the cpening at ev.^-y session " of 
Senate or House of Representatives and 
on every great occawior of state cere- 
mony; by chaplrincies and divine ser- 
vices in erei-y --eeiment of the army 
and every ship of the navy, and by our 
national coin bearing the inscription. 
"In God we trust":— by all the.=e our 
nation has from the first aclcnowledged 
Him who "doeth His will in the army 
of Heaven and among the inhabitants 
of the earth." Distant be the day 
when the great republic shall so far 
forget God as to deny that every valid 
human law is quaTried out of another 
law which alone gives it validity, and 
which underlies and upholds it as the 
primeval granite upbears the rock- 



AMERICAN LIBERTY 



built citadel. So.ne of us may well 
take a lesson from Ci^cero. He de- 
clares: 

"The-e is a true law, a ri-ht reasor 
congruous to nature, pe:vading all 
muids, constant, eternal: which call, 
to duty by its comma.:rls, and repels 
from wrong-<loing by its p.ohibitions: 
and to the good does not command or 
Polnbit in vain, while the wicked a.e 
nr.moved by its exhortations or it« 
waminr... This l^w cannot be annu'- 
led, superceded, nor overruled. No 
senate, no peopl;, can loose us from 
It: no jurist, no interpreter can ex- 
plain it .-v-ay. It is not one l-.w -.t 
Rome, another at Athens: one at p es- 
ent, anoth-;,r at some future time- but 
one law, eternal and unchan-e ble it 
P^esi-r-es ever all nations and all tinits 
the universal sirereitrn. Of t-is law 
the author anfl giver is God. W-oe-er 
discbeys t!-is l..w flies from himself, 
and by the wrong done to his own na- 
ture, though he escape all other pun- 
ishments, inours the heaviest penrltv." 
And so we msy lay down this as the 
.seventh great distinctive found-.tion 
principle of Ameican liberty: Every 
valid human L'.w is sacred, the o din- 
ance of God. 

Accepting these sei.-en bisic princi- 
ples, that the state exists for man not 
manforthestat-: that government -^ist 
"ev-r inte poso betv-^-n man and his 
Maker: that all men must be equal be- 
fore the iTw: that by representation 
many millions, many commupiiti's. 
and n^any st'^tes. m-iy sit together as 
on» m council: that e-ch state is 
inerged, but not lost. continuing 
distinct, autonomors in one sov- 
ereign nation: th-t leTislative, 
executu-e, and judicial powers 
should be separated. co-orriiTiate 
independent of each other: and t-^at 
human law is binding upon the con- 
science—on this sevenfold fo-'n:iatinn 
they bvilt the noblest structure ♦he 
world eve:- saw! 

_Th<>re into life an infant empire springs' 
Ihere falls the iron from the soul! 

I .ere Liberiy's young accents roll 

' P to the King of Kings' 

Z? I'^il 9r,?atioi"i's farthest bound 

lliat thrilling summons yet shall sound: 
The dreaming nations shall awake 

shake'""" '^^"^^^ earth's old kingdom 
Before the loftier throne of Heaven 
Jhe hand is raised, the pledge is given 
One monarch to obey, one creed to own.- 
That monarch. God: that creed his truth 
alone! 

Such in the abstract are so.-ne of the 
leading principles of American Liberty. 
All this republic f^els today something 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



of the concrete. But how little we 
realize its preciousness! We need a 
contrast. Go to England, where, with- 
in sight of the dome of St. Paul's a 
quarter of a million human beings live 
like dogs, mostly without work, with- 
out homes, without education, with 
nothing better than public charity in 
prospect for old age. Go to England, 
to France, to Germany, to Russia, 
where through rrilitarism every work- 
in-rman "carris on his back a soWier," 
who rides him as "the old man of the 
sea" rode Sinbad the Sailor, or is torn 
from home and friends to be himself 
a soldier and forced to live an unnat- 
ural life in camp or barracks during 
his best years. Think of the vigilant 
eyes of an omnipresent police: the nec- 
essity of passports; the prescribed 
and pioscvibed reiigion; the stifled 
speech, the compulsory ignorance, the 
grinding toil; the scissors of censorship 
alternating with the guillotine: the 
conscription worse than the press- 
tmns: the tax that plunders half the 
hard earnings; the haughty airs of a 
hereditary aristncracy: the impossibili- 
ty of • i?ing in the world: the torturing 
iron shell of go-vernment cramping and 
crushing every noble ambition, crip- 
pling ev3ry energy, iegr^ding man into 
a machine; the utter hopelessness of 
change, except through bloody and 
hazardous revolution: the exile of the 
innocent to some Devil's Island or far 
Siberia; now and then the swinging 
kiiout falling heavily on the quivering 
fosh of hieh-born women whose only 
cir^e is that they love freedom "not 
wisely but too w"U"; — compa'e all that 
with t>ie situation in free America! 

Think, too. of the cost of liberty. The 
destruction of all wealth in the seven- 
years' war; the general bankruptcy that 
followed it; the sufferings of a tattered 
famished army; the eleven thousand 
martyred in prison ships and 
elsewhere; the sanguinary fights; 
the ghastly wounds; the my- 
riads sl-^in; the blazing dwellings; the 
homes made desolate; the unive'-sal 
mourning — the seven-years' night of 
a Sony — these were but a part of the 
n'-ice our fathers paid rather than sub- 
mit to one tyrannical measure, taxation 
without representation. But freedom 
of conscience has cost at least a thou- 
sand times as many martyrs, a thou- 
sand times as much misery. 
"By the light of burning heretics Christ's 

bleeding feet 1 track. 
Tolling up new Calvaries ever with the 

cross that turns not back." 
In the enumeration of the cardinal 



principles of our liberty we have not 
dwelt upon the consent of the govern- 
ed as a source of the just powers of 
government. The doctrine is liable to 
misconstruction. Historically it has 
rarely or never been the original basis 
of government. Perhaps the nearest 
approach to it was in the cabin of the 
M.'.y flower a month before the landing 
at Plymouth; but that little body politic 
existed before the forty-one men sign- 
ed the compact and even long before 
the instrument was written. A gov- 
ernor was chosen by them before they 
sailed for England. The nine who di 1 
not sign it, as well as the women and 
the minors, were equally bound to 

obe". 

Onr Confederate brethi-en always 
sought to jvistify their secession by 
pleading that they did not consent to hf 
governed by the Union. The answer 
is ^'ourfold. First, with hardly a single 
exception, every leading man in the 
Confederacy had solemnly given his 
consent by swearing to support the 
Constituticn of the United States, and 
every other man there had by his resi- 
dence identiTied himself with the or- 
ganism of the Union, and by his silence 
given his consent to its sway. Second- 
ly, reckoning the colored men, in no 
southern state had the majority ever 
consented to secession, but they were 
always at heart in favor of the United 
States. Thirdly, the true reason for 
the secession appears to have been a 
de.=ire to perpetuate the slavery which 
tot.iliy ignored consent. Fourthly, a 
law is sacred, and the great law of the 
Constitution especially so. 

Actions are more eloiuent and more 
diecisive than woids. "Silence gives 
consent." The Sabine maidens were 
torn from their country by the Romans. 
It was a high-handed outi'age deserving 
detith. Tint the Romans treated these 
prisoners kindly. They married them 
Homes were built Children were 
born. Los'e had succeeded to hatred. 
The original crime was forgotten 
Af'.er all had become peaceful and har- 
monioi'g. wou'd it not have been wrong 
to unsettle everything? by war to 
seek redress for the original wrong? 
Consent had supervened. 

On the eighteenth of November, 1777. 
when our Revolutionary War had been 
raging two years and seven months. 
Lord Chatham, the foremost of Eng- 
land's parliamentary orators, in his 
greatest speech in the House of Lords, 
exclaimed, "If I were an .American, as 



lO 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



I um an Rnprlisliman, while a foreign 
troop was landed in niy country, I 
nevpr would lay down my arms— 
NKVFR—NP:VETc— NEVER!" Foi- 

many j'^ais England had claimed the 
right to tax and bind the colonies "in 
all cases whatsoever " but the colonies 
h'ad never for an instant, either ex- 
pressly or hy implic:ation, CONSENT- 
ED to such government. In a few 
months, in 177S, Fixinco came to our 
aid: but the war contlrued ."everal 
years longer. England stilll called us 
"rebels," and technically the colonies 
were in "rebellion." 
■Rebellion! foul dishonoring word! 
V.hose wrongful blight so oft has stained 
The holiest cause that tongue or sword 
Of mortal ever lost or gained! 
How many a spirit born to bless 
Has sunlc beneath that withering name. 
Whom but a day's, an hour's success, 
ilad wafted to eternal fame!" 

Now suppose that France, well know- 
ing our aspirations, after assisting us 
in our desperate gtruggle for Indepen- 
dence, and when the English armies 
were cooped up at Yorktcwn, Charles 
ton. Savannah, and New York, had 
made a treaty with England, whereby 
she paid England twenty million dollars 
and received from England all her 
right, title, and interest in America; 
had become recognized by international 
law as the owner and sovereign of Am- 
erica; had then demandonl of Washing- 
ton, and his compatriots submission to 
the authority of King Louis 
XVI. saying. as the poet Soiith- 
ey said in his life of Nel- 
son thirty years later, that the Am- 
erican people were "not fit for inde- 
pendence:" th.at they must accept the 
sovereignty of France or die. Suppose 
that V/ashington had resisted; that 
th"rcupon the French had poured an 
army of sixty or seventy thousand 
trained soldiers into thfse colonies; 
that after many months they h&d 
fought down all organized resistance, 
having killed off fiftern or twenty 
thousand of our poorly armed militia; 
that AVashington, having carried on for 
a while a guerrilla warfare, a "pred- 
atory war," as years before he said he 
woiild, if the worst came, w^as now 
hunted and hiding, and a,ll "armed 
rebellion" ag'ainst the Fremch sover- 
eignty had been at last utterly extin- 
'Tuished; that the night of war was 
over, peace had fully dawned, business 
had revived, prosperity had come, courts 
of justice !iad oeen set in operation, 
schools hart been everywhere reopened, 
intermarriages had cemented ties of 



friendship between the two peoples, 
harmony had succeeded to discord, 
"benevolent assimilation," in which 
Frenchmen surpass all others, had heal- 
ed the wounds of war; — in a word, the 
American colonists had fully CON- 
SENTED to be subjects of France,— 
would it have been right, however In- 
fe'-nal the bargain between Fmnce and 
England may have once seemed, ai.d 
however horrible the hundred massa- 
cres by French troops of American men 
and women fighting for independence, 
— would it have been right, simply be- 
ePlcient working of tlie governmental 
cause independence had been denied 
them.— would it have been right for 
the colonies THEN to WITHDRA'W' 
their CONSENT, to raise the standard 
of revolt, renews the strife, and deluge 
th? land again with blood? 

Of the many dangers that now threat- 
en American liberty time forbids me 
to mention more than three or four. 

The heathen idea that man exists for 
the state, ond not the state for man. 
which in Greece gave rise to so splen- 
did displays of patriotism, now occa- 
sionally reappears under the plausible 
but essentially atheistic sentiment, 
"Our Country, right or wrong!" mean- 
ing that if our country, under the lead 
of any man or set of men, in open or 
secret defiance of the Divine Law, 
should undertake to perpetrate by force 
or fraud a great crime against any por- 
tion of the human race, we must not 
protest against it, but must loyally as- 
sist with all otir might in that perpetra- 
tion. For example, if, in the prosecu- 
tion of a wicked war for greed or glory 
against Mex'ico. our flag should come 
to float over 'the palace of ttie Mon- 
tezumas," that flag, no matter what 
for the moment it symbolizes, must 
never be hauled down' That, surely. 
Is PATRIOTISM RUN MAD. Lowell 
we'll burlesques it — 
"The side of our country must always 

t>e took. 
And President Polk, you know, he is our 

country: 
And the angel who writes all our sins 

in his book 
Puts (he debit to him, and to us the per 
contra-" 

Ag^amst This perv'ersion that makes 
a fetish of the dear old flag, and would 
dethrone the \lmighty, and against a 
kindred doctrine recently reiterated by 
high authority to the effect that "No 
other motive than interest is proper in 
politics," we will not argue, but simply 
cuir.tc a higher authority than that of a 
Yale professoir — "The wicked shall be 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 



1 1 



turned into holl. and all the nations 
that forset God!" 

Just at this hour the chief peril that 
confront? us is. perhaps, th-e disposi- 
tion — the hungf-r for trade, for land, for 
oirioe, for military irlory, for "strenuous 
lite," or for the conversion of the heath- 
en — to plunge our nation into war. As 
a world power we must show our teeth 
and clenched fists, and get "a sphere 
of influence." Lord Bacon, in his es- 
.^ay on "The True Greatness of King- 
doms and Kstates," insists that it is 
most important "for empire and great- 
ness — that !i nation do profess ARMS 
as their principal honor, study, and oc- 
cupation;" that a state "should have 
those laws ond customs which may 
reach forth to them just occasions, as 
may be PRF.TKNDED of w'ar;" and 
that nations should be on the alert to 
PFTZE OPPORTUNTTIES TO QUAR- 
REL with other nations! That is 
claimed to be one way of promoting 
iJhriFtian civilization. So Mohammed 
spread his gospel. 
■Just Allah! what must be thy look 
AVhen such a wretch before thee stands 
Liibliisliing with thy sacred book! 
Tunnns thv leaves with blood-stained 

hands, 
.find wresting from Its rage sublime 
1-Jis creed of lust and hate and crime!" 

The greatest of American strate- 
gists declared, "War is hell." And the 
greatest of dramatists, in delineating 
his ideal sovereign, in whose lineaments 
as most Clitics concede, we may dis- 
cern much of Shakespeare himself, re- 
piesents that sovereign as shrinking 
with horror from making unjust war. 
He makes King Henry the Fifth, who 
had been tempted to seize the realm of 
France as his inheritance, saj- — 
■My learned lord. We pray you to pro- 
ceed. 
And .instly and religiously unfold 
\Vhy the law Salique. that they have in 

Fr.ance. 
Or should or should not bar us in our 

claim. 
And God forbid, my dear and faithful 

lord. 
That you should fashion, wrest, or bow 

your reading. 
Or nicely charge your understanding soul. 
With onening titles miscriate, whose rigbt 
Suits not In native colors with the truth: 
1 or G-od doth know how many now in 

health 
Shall drop (heir blood in approbation 
Of wiiat your reverence shall incite us to. 
Therefore.take heed how you impawn our 

person. 
How you awake the sleepmg sword of 

war: 
\VE CHARGE YOU IN THE NAME OF 

GOB. TAKE HEED! 
For never two such kingdoms did contend 
Without much fall of Bliod, whose guilt- 
less drops 



Are everv ore a v.-oe. a sore complaint 
'G.ainst him who-- wrung gives edge un- 
to the sword 
That makes such waste In brief mor- 
tality. 
Under this conjuration speak my lord. 
M\Y I WITH RIGHT AND CON- 
SCIENCE MAKF, Tins Cl^AIM?" 
Yes, a war NOT STRICTLY' DEPEN- 
SIVlv is murder on a ereat scale. We 
may again quote Lowell — 
"At; for war — I call it murther! 
There you have it plain and flat: 
And I need to go no further 
Than my Testament for that!" 

liut the gie\.ite.-t of dangeis, ever 
present to American Liberty, is in the 
IGNOUAXiE OF THE VOTER. By 
virtue of the great foundation piinci- 
ple, which cannot he changed, that, be- 
fore the law, every man is the equal of 
evo-y other man, the interests of a na- 
tion vast ali'eady, and i>jrliaps destined 
to be mightier tlvan any other, arc t;i- 
trtisted to his hands. Qtiestions new, 
perplexing, momentous, are continually 
ri.= lng and pressing tor solution. Al 
every election, if at no other time, we 
are reminded that the government i? 
not only of the people and fo ■ the peo- 
ple, but also by the people. You are a 
voter, a ruler, a boverelgnl To your 
conscience, your children, your country, 
to a thousand millions of the living, to 
all coming geneiiitions, and to Almigh- 
ty God, yon are answerable, if, through 
your indolence, your ignorance. yoi;r 
neglect, yourfolly. your misconduct, thi- 
foundations of liberty are tindermined; 
law is tram.pled under the foot; your 
brother is crushed down to a level with 
brutes; the innocent are lynched by 
mobs, or shot to death on the highway; 
cOT'.uption sits in legislative halls, or is 
robed in judicial ermine; Anarcny 
lays its bloody hand on the Constitu- 
tion: armed hordes substitute the shot- 
gun or the bowie-knife for the ballot- 
box, or loaded dice or packages of 
tisvue paper for ballots, entangling al- 
liances drag us into a world-wide con- 
flagration: or .a blind, drunken, greedy, 
ambitions, maniac crew drive swift up- 
on the rock." of disunion or of shame- 
ful war the noblest ship that ever 
floated on the ocean of time! 

Let me propose for vour consideration 
a partial if not complete preventive and 
remedy, not of present ills, but of all 
that we may feel or fear in the not dis- 
tant ftiture. Let there he a Constitu- 
tional amendment, fixing, for evety 
wouM-be new voter, after a certain 
date, so high a standard of qualifica- 
tion." t.-.r admission to the elective fran- 
chise ."s to insure the Bafe. smooth, and 



12 



AMERICAN LIBERTY, 



efficient ymking^ of the srovernmental 
marhinery — soinetliingr like the follow- 
in<r, which I suggested some years ago 
in a public meeting, and in the press. 
It might be adopted by any state or by 
the nation, with appropriate legislation 
to carry it into effect: — 

On and afteir January 1, 1905, 
any sworn citizen of the United 
States, not then a voter, being 
upwards of twenty-one years of 
age, and of unexceptionable 

mora! cliararter, shall be admitted to 
e'^eroise the right of suffrage: provideJ, 
and it is required, that such person 
shall first have passed satisfactorily a 
thorough written examination in the 
use of the American language, in com- 
mon arithmetic, and in the geography, • 
the history, and the civil government of 
the Ignited States. 

Finally, fellow citizens, let us never 
forget that while might never makes 
right, law is a sacred thing; that, in 
the majestic language or Saint Paul, 
"The rowers that be are ordained of 
God; whosoever, therefore, resisteth the 
power, resisteth the ordinance of God." 
And let us recognize with 
thanksgiving the fact that all through 
our history, and most when our need 
was greatest, an unseen Hand has guid- 



ed or chastened our nation, and seem- 
ed to shape our ilesliny. Was it nnt 
so at Plymouth Rock, in Independenc- 
Hall, on Bunker Hill at Valley Forge, 
at Saratoga, at Yorktown. at Gettys- 
burg, at Manila? Yes, and off Santia- 
go, where at the close of the battle, 
the great-souled officer who last Satur- 
day passr-d from earth to heaven. Rear 
Admirrt! John W. Phillip, called his gal- 
lant mariners to the luarter-deck of 
his victorious ship, and solemnly said. 
"I want to make public acknowled.g- 
menl hei-e that I believe in God the 
Father Almighty. I want all you offi- 
ci'ir-.s and men to lift your hats, and 
to offer from your hearts ?ilent thanks- 
giving to Che Almighty for this vic- 
tnrv!" 
"Oh thus be it ever when freemen shall 

stand 
Betw(^-n thpir loved homes and the war's 

desolation! 
Blest with victory and peace, may the 

Heaven-rescued land 
Praise »he Power that hath made and pre- 
served us a nation! 
Then conquer we must, for our cause, it 

is just; 
And this b^ our motto: "In God is our 

trust!" 
.Vnd the Star Spangled Banner in triumph 

shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of 

the brave!" 



JOHN J. CORBETT, 

PRINTER, 

■'SI Chapei Street 



I 



J 



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